scorpion

Close up of the dead scorpion, being cleaned up by ant's. 

Look at the way the legs are folding up... 

Dead scorpion

I found this scorpion in my studio, and am keeping it for the ants to clean up. 

‘Scorpion’?

An interesting bunch of twigs that were pruned from the stinkwood. I watched it develop over the years while having coffee on the verandah. To my mind it bore a resemblance to the scorpions I was finding in the bath downstairs. To the logo of a potter that I noticed while a student.

A better view of the trails...

Whip scorpion

The whip scorpion being dried out. This is actually to show the tracks left by the maggots that left the dead body. Look carefully on the left...

Whip scorpion

I found a dead whip scorpion and wanted to dry it out in this position, so I could use it as a reference for mezzotints or an embossing of sorts.

spider

Almost interesting... See the whip scorpions

Scorpion?

In February last year (2013) I saw these scorpions in the white stinkwood tree.

They reminded me of the artist's mark of a, I think Nigerian, potter that I saw when I was a student. I thought the mark was wonderful in how it captured a visual essence of a scorpiion (nice spelling mistake!)

Patterns ... like elephant tracks

White Stinkwood in the morning - like elephant tracks

Elephant track in Imfolozi

First describe then explain ... first the 'what' then the 'why'. Does this mean that each blog post must have 2 paragraphs?

The White Stinkwood tree in front of the house provides perches and food for the birds and our early morning entertainment. We always have coffee and watch the sun rise and how the world wakes up. Staring at the stinkwood I noticed the twigs and the patterns that they make, and like when one stares at clouds and imagines all sorts of creatures, I see all sorts of things in these branches. I once saw a scorpion and it has now disappeared.

I think I knew that elephant tracks are like fingerprints, in that no two are the same and can be used to identify individuals, and Nunu confirmed it. I realised that these track patterns could be used as a reference when designing indigenous jewellery. A way of using elephants without being too explicit, which is one of the aims when trying to develop creative design; go beyond the obvious, beyond the cliche. Nunu then pointed out, to my delight, that the students have their own unique pattern references in the palm of their hands. 

Colour Test pieces

Better pic... to show the shiny bits...

Scorpion design 2

Improved?... I think there needs to be more space between the legs, so that it could be bent open... and I wonder how many legs it does have?

6 plus 2 pincers...

Scorpion design

A design for an improved scorpion... it more of an instruction... the idea is to use curved brush/pen strokes, saw them out and then bend them open...

Design...

Colour Test pieces

Here I am testing the colours I have not printed yet, just to check what they look like. And, of course, I couldn't just test them. I had to find an appropriate image to use, so I then designed this scorpion - which comes from a potter's signature, that stuck in my mind from when I was a student, and the memory of a scorpion in Thomas's bath just recently. Combine all this with my preoccupation with the 'sting/heart' and something is bound to happen (soon).

I quite like the imperfect yellow print. Now just to work out how to do it deliberately.

Scorpion in the bath

Found this big black scorpion in Thomas's bath this morning. Must have come from outside and I had no idea they could climb up walls.